Gary Kirsten to coach Virat Kohli-led franchise

CARIBBEAN (92 News) – Gary Kirsten, the former South Africa batsman and India coach when they won the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, will reunite with the likes of Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers in the Indian Premier League.

Kirsten has been named coach and mentor for the Kohli-led franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore from the 2019 season.

He takes over from Daniel Vettori, the former New Zealand spinner, who was with the side for eight years, first as player then as coach. Kirsten was already part of the support staff in 2018, serving as batting coach, and was influential in Kohli’s early years in international cricket.

“I had the privilege of coaching with the RCB team last season under head coach Daniel Vettori and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I look forward to continuing the journey with RCB and doing my best to help the franchise reach its potential,” said Kirsten in a statement.

Despite their batting riches, Bangalore have never won the IPL, only reaching the final twice. In the 2017 and 2018 seasons, they struggled to win matches, finishing in the bottom half of the table.

They will hope for a turnaround under Kirsten, who was in charge of India from 2008 till 2011, when they won the World Cup and became the No.1 Test team. He then took over as South Africa coach, seeing their rise to No.1 in Tests as well.

In his playing days, Kirsten averaged 45.27 and 40.95 respectively in 101 Tests and 185 ODIs for South Africa.